


The Purse Thieving Avengers

by KLStarre



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dating, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Mutual Protection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-24 01:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8350045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KLStarre/pseuds/KLStarre
Summary: Date Night doesn't exactly go as planned, but nothing makes for a fun time like chasing after a purse thief.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dirty_diana](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dirty_diana/gifts).



            The light filtering through the windows of Central City Picture News isn’t light at all, but dark. It’s hard to tell if it is because night is beginning to fall or because of the storm brewing outside, and Iris is very determinedly not looking at the clock at the bottom of the screen because she’s somehow managed to convince herself that if she doesn’t look then it’s not as late as she knows it is. She reaches out and takes a sip of the coffee that Linda had brought her hours before, and immediately regrets it. Not only is it cold, but it is one hundred percent possible that this coffee has been sitting here for a couple days and she’s lost track. Godammit.

            She really should get going, she thinks, her eyes flicking again to the wall-to-ceiling windows. Shit, now it’s raining. And she also thinks she can see stars, which means she automatically looks at the clock, and, dear god, she’s not even going to let that number process but suffice it to say that if she got paid overtime, she’d be a rich woman. Her chair creaks as she turns back to her computer monitor, adds a comma, types a couple more words, leans back, rubs her eyes. Her phone vibrates in her pocket, but she ignores it. She needs to get this _done,_ today, before the supervisor decides that enough is enough and puts her on another story. The world deserves to know about the metas, or at least Central City does, and if she’s the only one who’s going to tell them, then so be it.

            She manages to type out a few more sentences before getting distracted again, this time by a gentle hand on her shoulder. She jumps, her heart racing, before recognizing Linda’s touch and swiveling around in her chair.

            Linda’s right eyebrow is raised in mock annoyance, but her eyes are soft and amused. She’s gorgeous, Iris thinks absently, like she does every time she sees her.

            “I thought I’d find you here,” Linda says, as Iris looks up at her, confused.

            “What do you mean? Shouldn’t you be home already?” Iris stands up, kissing her gently on the lips, but Linda is not to be distracted.

            “Shouldn’t _I_ be home? Iris, dearest, darling, do you have any idea what time it is? Anyone in their right mind should be home, but some of us had a date with our beautiful girlfriend scheduled for tonight.”

            Iris’s eyes widen as realization dawns. “Oh. Shit. Oh my god, that was tonight. I’m sorry babe, I totally lost track of time with this new story -”

            Linda laughs, her eyes sparkling. “I figured this would happen, so I made our reservation late. You’re so cute when you’re worried, you know that?”

            Iris groans and shoves Linda playfully. “That was rude. Give me five minutes to wrap this up, and I’ll be right there.”

            “Absolutely not. I grabbed your purse and your jacket, so you don’t have to go into the staff room and get distracted by another story about how there’s a tiny superhero disguised as an ant who takes all the extra food at the end of the day and delivers it to those in need.”

            Iris tries to look mad, really she does, but she can’t stop herself from laughing. “You’re ridiculous,” she says, taking Linda’s hand in hers, and Linda smiles that adorable smile that Iris had fallen in love months ago.

            “So are you. Shall we?” Linda responds, and the two of them walk out the door into the night, Iris shrugging into her rain jacket as they do.

            The sidewalks are mostly empty, left uncrowded by the dark and the rain that is now beginning to pass. Central City is small, small enough that the two of them rarely drive anywhere unless they’re in a rush. For tonight, they’re happy to simply enjoy one another’s company, holding hands and laughing without worrying about the stares of others.

            “So tell me about this article,” Linda says, while they’re stopped at a traffic light waiting for the signal that they’re allowed to cross the street. “It must be really important for you to forget about our night.”

            Iris rolls her eyes, leaning into Linda’s side for warmth as the rain starts up again. “It’s just a thing I’ve been working on for a while, you know, about the metahumans and their similarities with, like, other people with powers that were caused by something else. Editor thinks it’s a joke, but I think it might be a real breakthrough, you know?”

            “That’s actually pretty cool –” Linda begins to say as they cross the street, but then stops, frowning. “Wait a minute. Where’s my purse?”

            The two of them automatically turn, eyes scanning the ground in case she had dropped it, but Iris catches a glimpse of motion out of the corner of her eye. On the other side of the road, a man sprints through the puddles, something bright and purse shaped dangling from his hands.

            “Look! Over there!” she points, frozen for a moment before jumps into action. “Should we go after him?” Iris asks, almost rhetorically, turning to face her, but Linda is already stepping out of her heels, a ridiculous grin on her face.

            “Let’s _go_ ,” she says. “Show the bastard that he took the wrong purse!” After what feels like a long moment but is probably less than a second, Iris kicks off her heels, too, and the two of them take off across the crosswalk.

            It’s lucky the sidewalk isn’t crowded, because the two of them are sprinting at a breakdown speed, footsteps perfectly in tandem, hearts pounding in their ears. Ahead of them, the man is starting to slow down, either out of breath or not having noticed them, so, together, they push themselves even further, running as fast as they possibly can. Neither woman has any idea what she plans on doing once they catch him, but they’re exhilarated by the thrill of the chase, trusting that they’ll be able to protect each other.

            He turns into an alley, and they follow, but it’s a bricked up dead end and by the time they reach it, he’s turned around. Iris meets his eyes as they slow to a stop, out of breath, but not as out of breath as he seems to be.

            “Why are you following me?” He asks with a slight lisp, his hands concealing the purse behind his back.

            “You have something of mine,” Linda says, and Iris nods. She and Linda have worked out together, and taken self-defense classes together, and of course Joe has been teaching her how to take care of herself since she was a child. Nonetheless, she is suddenly nervous now that they’ve come face to face with this man, suddenly very glad that they outnumber him.

            “What are you going to do about it?” he asks, and Linda opens her mouth, but Iris cuts in before she can say anything too aggressive.

            “We’re going to ask you very nicely to return it,” she says, silencing Linda with a look. Being the hero is fun, and so is racing down the sidewalk in the pouring rain, but she doesn’t want either of them to get beaten up. Although, to be fair, this man is short, only head height to Iris, and still panting from the run.

            “And what if I don’t?” he asks, clearly trying to stall as he slowly backs away.

            Iris sighs, trying to look defeated, and the man relaxes, thinking he’s won. But Linda, at least, knows her better than that, and the two of them lunge forward almost at the exact same time, Linda pinning his arms to his sides and Iris snatching the purse from his hands.

            Everyone freezes. Iris counts the heartbeats in her ears _onetwothreeonetwothree_ and then chaos erupts as the man screams at Linda and Linda screams back and finally the man breaks away from her hold and Linda stumbles back, bringing her arms up in front of her face to defend herself, but instead of attacking he just runs, right past them, out into the street.

            They watch in shock for a moment, moving closer to each other in a subconscious desire for protection, and then Iris turns and hands Linda her purse. “Well,” she says, starting to laugh in a release of pent up nervous energy, “We got it.”

            Linda takes it from her and swings it over her shoulder, starting to laugh as well, and the two kiss, Linda’s lips slightly chapped and Iris’s tasting like sunshine. “We could do this every night,” she says, gesturing with one hand and reaching for Iris’s hand with the other. “Iris and Linda: the Purse Thieving Avengers!”

            “We could’ve been _killed_!”

            “But we weren’t!”

            “I can’t stand you sometimes, you know.”

            “You love me.”

            “I do.”

            And they kiss again, the rain falling silently around them, fingers intertwined in eachother’s hair, happier together in an open alleyway than they would be with anyone else in a palace.

 

           


End file.
